Trek & Girls' Camp

Hey everybody! Wow! June has been quite a busy month for me!

At the beginning of June, I had the incredible opportunity to go on Trek with my ward. It was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. It was hard, and tiring, but it just lets you know that you can do hard things! :D I loved learning so much about the pioneers and gaining such a love and appreciation for them. They were incredible.  One of the things I learned about the pioneers and am in awe of, is that they suffered all that they did, and gave up nearly everything to get to the Valley, but mainly to get to the Temple. I think that is remarkable. As I started looking at my own life, I realized that I don't attend the temple nearly as many times as I should, and I live 5 minutes away from one. The pioneers were so incredibly dedicated and they had the strongest trust in God. I hope that I can have the hope, trust, obedience, and faith that these pioneers did.

Devil's Gate

The setting sun during one of our devotionals

The Sweetwater River

Me in my Pioneer Clothes

The Plains of Wyoming

A statue in memory of the young men who helped the Martin Handcart Company across the Sweetwater.

A Beautiful Sunset

PS - my good friend Callie took all of these AMAZING pictures and all of the credit goes to her! :D

I loved the experience that Trek was for me and I hope that I can continue to "Abide in Light", as our theme stated.

This past week, I had another amazing opportunity to go to Stake Girls' Camp! It was so much fun! I was a 4th year YCL (I LOVED it!!) and so I went up a day early with my girls. That night, we had an amazing devotional underneath the stars. I was reminded of a beautiful Jenny Phillips song (aren't ALL of her songs beautiful? :D) called "Be Not Afraid". It states, "There's a million shining stars up there that you can't even see. And you are worth more than ALL of them combined." I know that's true, even though it is so hard to comprehend. We are worth so much more than we realize!
Our caretaker (the cutest old man ever!) spoke to us for a few minutes on the second night, and he said something that I loved. First, he gave us each a small bag of M&M's and said, these stand for, "Modesty & Morality". Then you flip them upside down, and they stand for, "Worthy to Wear White". It was so cute!!

M&M's! :)

Here are a few other thoughts from Girls' Camp...
Be "Girls Offering Light Daily to Every Nation" (Be GOLDEN)
The Small & Simple things: when we do the "small and simple things" each and every day, such as praying and reading our scriptures, "great things will come to pass".
Bring Home the Gold: Don't settle for anything less than the ultimate prize (marrying in the Temple). Do not settle for anything short of who you are, a daughter of God. Always stay true to who you are and NEVER waver from that! :)
Guard and protect your virtue as you would your own life. Be a guardian of Virtue!
Hold on to what you want most, not what you want at the moment.

I am so grateful for this gospel and these opportunities that I receive to grow and become closer to my Father in Heaven. I know that He knows who I am, and He knows what I struggle with. He hears and answers my prayers, even though most of the time they are answered differently than I expected. I know He has a plan for me, even though I can't see it clearly. I know that I am a daughter of God. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Thanks for reading!
Lots of Love, Brianna